This application relates to intelligent messaging.
Reliable and rapid delivery of large numbers of text messages is important to enterprises, public safety agencies, universities, and others with a need to quickly notify interested parties.
There are various protocols for delivering short message service (SMS) text messages, primarily SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). Each of these protocols presents different challenges for effective message delivery.
SMTP is inherently slow and unreliable. Due to its open nature and vulnerability to abuse, SMTP is often throttled or otherwise restricted by wireless service providers. Furthermore, SMTP is typically unable to provide information about the success or failure of a transmission as a message passes through downstream systems to reach a targeted mobile subscriber.
SMPP is a more secure and robust protocol. SMPP is not subject to the same wireless service provider throttling and restrictions, but is still closely regulated by wireless carriers. Unlike SMTP, SMPP is not open to anyone who wishes to send an SMS message. Rather, entities that want to gain access to an SMPP connection must apply for access and open their messaging platform to audit by the wireless carriers.
Third parties, referred to as aggregators, have emerged as mediators between wireless carriers and entities wishing to send SMS over SMPP. Aggregators ensure that the rules established by the mobile industry and by each wireless service provider are adhered to by the entities sending messages. In addition, aggregators maintain “binds,” or connections, across multiple wireless service providers. Binds allow message sending entities to gain access to multiple wireless carrier networks while maintaining a connection to only a single SMS message aggregator. In general, SMPP aggregators differ among themselves with respect to the mobile carriers they support, the reliability of their systems, and their message throughput.
Binds to service providers, either directly to wireless carriers or through third party aggregators, are prone to failure and normally to not provide service level agreements for message delivery.
Entities sending messages through aggregators are assigned a single 5- or 6-digit “short code,” which is used to uniquely identify the message sending entity to its subscribers, regardless of the subscriber's mobile service provider.